Make Palin President in The Political Machine 2012

If you really can't wait for the 2012 election to be over with, these bobbleheads can help ease the pain.

It's pretty much a tradition. Just as turkeys are inextricably linked with Thanksgiving and pigs to Hogswatchnight, bobbleheads are to Stardock's version of the American election.The Political Machine 2012 is out now for your gaming pleasure, and can be had for less than ten bucks via Steam, Gamestop and Gamefly.

The stated goal of the game is to "win the hearts and minds of America's voters to achieve victory in the 2012 presidential election." To do so you'll take your little bobble buddy on a whirlwind tour of every state in the Union, making speeches and kissing butts as often as necessary. You can adopt a pre-existing bobble - though even the promo video couldn't muster up much applause for poor Paul - or make one of your own, to win glory for your party.

Stardock has been making these since 2004, and doesn't usually stick rigidly to the historical timeline. Abraham Lincoln and Tricky Dick Nixon were playable in the previous two versions, but it seems as though only current political characters like Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin will feature in the 2012 edition. The game will also feature "updated political topics from across the United States," so all those talking points voters have been force-fed for months will show up in The Political Machine 2012; cheerful subjects like Obamacare, gay rights, Afghanistan, and the economy all plague your bobble candidate, tempting him to flip like a born flopper.

Political contests are good fodder for games. Whether something historic or slightly more cartoonish, people grasp the context quickly and want to get involved. Stardock must be cackling with glee; no matter who wins in 2012, they get paid.